Princess Anne, Maryland – (January 16, 2013) – Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy, director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), talks to faculty, staff and students at UMES on Wednesday, Jan. 30, at 11:30 a.m. in the Richard A. Henson Center, room 1116. His talk, sponsored by the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences (SANS), explores the role of land-grant universities and the NIFA in addressing global challenges.

UMES is one of two land-grant institutions in the state of Maryland that provide leadership for research in agriculture, food, biomedical sciences and natural resource conservation and use. Over the years, the SANS research program has established and maintained strong collaborative partnerships with state and federal agencies as well as other academic institutions. These linkages allow the program to be highly responsive to priorities in Maryland and the nation and to the five priority science areas of NIFA: food security and hunger, climate change, sustainable energy, childhood obesity, and food safety.

In reference to his life’s work, Ramaswamy personifies the USDA’s research, education and extension mission. Prior to his May 7, 2012 appointment as director of NIFA, he served as dean of Oregon State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences and director of the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station from 2009 to 2012. In Purdue University’s College of Agriculture, he served as associate dean from 2006 to 2009. Previously, from 1997 to 2006, he was head of Kansas State University’s Department of Entomology, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor and was named the Presidential Outstanding Department Head in 2002. He also served on the faculty of Mississippi State University and as a research associate at Michigan State University. As an insect physiologist, he worked on the integrative reproductive biology of insects.

Over his career, Ramaswamy has amassed research grants from many federal agencies, including the USDA, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the United States Agency for International Development as well as from state agencies, commodity groups and industry. He has published nearly 150 journal articles, book chapters and a book. As a scientist and department head, he has received a number of awards and honors, including being named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America, and Distinguished Graduate Alumnus of Cook College at Rutgers University.

While this event is free and open to the campus and to the community, pre-registration is required, as seating is limited to 70 people. For more information about the Ramaswamy seminar or to pre-register, go to www.umes.edu/sans or call 410-651-6072.